Prowess
by Pandora-Pandemonium
Summary: Not-so-oneshot anymore. The God of battle within raises his head and roars in defiance. Each chapter - 10 glimpses into the life of Naruto, who grows into the ultimate warrior. Sparodic updates.
1. Chapter 1

_Prowess by Pandora-Pandemonium_

_Published: 4-24-12_

EDIT: 5-14-12; New chapter added as per Warrior of Sangre's review. Yay.  


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1.

Uzumaki Naruto was indeed intended to be a weapon for the Leaf. As a Jinchuriki, it was wholly expected of him, not only to excel on the field of battle, but to surpass all others. As the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, it was practically a requirement. It was like this Sarutobi Hiruzen defended Naruto's continued existence. Better the power be put to use as protection than snuffed out forever.

It wasn't as if the child had another place to belong. As a civilian? Pah. Untrained, a temper tantrum could level a city block. If his ever-burgeoning power was to be put to use (and more importantly, held in check) the life of a shinobi was a must.

No one estimated the true extent of his future ability.

2.

On the night he was betrayed by Mizuki, Naruto tapped into his monstrous potential for the first time. Summoning roughly three hundred Shadow Clones without even becoming winded is a momentous, unsurpassed feat. The only one have exceeded it, on numerous occasions, is Naruto himself – something he takes no small amount of pride in.

Surrounded by his hated foe, Mizuki fought against the horde orange. Theoretically a well-trained Chunin should have no problem killing hundreds upon hundreds of snot-nosed brats with little training and power.

Theoretically.

But Naruto was murderous and hardly lacking in power. The absence of training had little weight in the equation. Every time Mizuki managed to exterminate a blond pest, each one that filled its place was a little faster, a little smarter, a little stronger. Glancing blows quickly became heavy hits that were unconsciously and increasingly powered by the enormous pool of highly-concentrated chakra only a Jinchuriki was capable of producing.

Eventually succumbing under the weight of his once-student's fists, Mizuki didn't even touch the ground until each Clone got in a solid hit and then dispersed. Iruka could only watch in morbid fascination as his little hellion pounded the living shit out of his former colleague. Eventually the silver-haired Chunin, reduced to a quivering wreck, fell to his knees only to receive one last destructive punch from the real Naruto.

"That was for Iruka-sensei," he spat.

He turned around and Iruka started at the positively fierce look on Naruto's face. The strange invisible aura around the boy dimmed as the fight rushed out of his system, overridden by concern for his teacher.

It may have been a trick of the light, but for a moment those eyes looked a deep purple.

"Congradulations," With shaking hands (it had nothing to do with the injury) the injured man reached for the student he had no trouble touching until then to bestow the symbol of Genin status. When he got within an inch of the tanned skin electric tingles passed over his arms and he trembled ('_So this is what you can really do?'_) before the raw power of one who was born for combat.

3.

In the aftermath, Mizuki's autopsy revealed that his internal organs were liquefied by repeated blunt force trauma. Naruto would never know, but Mizuki had been his first kill, the traitor dead before he hit the ground.

4.

"Fight me."

Hanging upside down from a tree, Naruto turned towards his male teammate. "What? Why?"

Uchiha Sasuke, wishing their tardy sensei would burst into flames or suffer something equally painful, growled "We aren't going to get any stronger if we just sit around doing nothing, waiting for out bastard of a teacher to show up. So fight me."

Actually, Naruto mused, that sounded like a really good way to kill some time. He flipped down and landed, springing to his feet. Staring deep into the endless obisidian eyes of his comrade he felt them bore deep into his own eyes, piercing directly into his soul while anticipation rose in his chest.

Sasuke panted on the ground, completely spent as he relived the fight over and over in his mind. Bruised and battered he gingerly rubbed his arm. There was a strip of purple across his forearm where he distinctly remembered Naruto grabbing him. The Uchiha had thought his place was on the battlefield, levelling his enemies in a silent display of skill while he emerged victorious and satisfied. He realized he was shaking. He forced himself to stop.

He could not shake the impression of a gigantic red maw filled with infinite teeth still bearing down on him, and the feeling that Naruto was something higher altogether.

5.

Deep within a dimly lit cell, Naruto grinned, red irises glowing-

-and Haku's world exploded into pain as the little orange Leaf shinobi bore down on him in a storm of red. The sensation of angry hornets struck as the Uzumaki boy bathed him in his cloaking red miasma. The last thing he was truly aware of before instinctively defending Zabuza-sama was the image of gleeful crimson eyes regarding him as a true adversary and a blow like a thousand sledgehammers to his face.

6.

Standing before the makeshift graves of the two former Mist shinobi, Naruto knelt and offered a prayer to Haku and thanked him. He told himself it was for the ideal of protecting those precious to him.

The growing warrior in the cell cackled and said it was a good battle.

7.

Naruto watched the helpless Sasuke and Sakura get tossed around in the Forest of Death and quickly assessed the situation of the weird woman-thing assaulting his team. He knew he was outclassed as he rushed in to help fight, but when had that ever mattered?

The God of battle within raised his head and roared defiance.

8.

Orochimaru growled in frustration as the blond package of inhuman endurance came at him again, moving exceptionally faster than before. _'But of course, he is the Jinchuriki,' _the Sannin reasoned. But all the reason in the world did not stop the gradually changing bullet from impacting again and again straining the stolen body. And that ridiculous smile! It drove him insane. Perhaps it was the child who was insane. He growled and lashed out, his patience finally run dry and sent the annoyance tumbling to the air with a blow to the head that would - _should _kill any human being.

His ragged hopes were dashed and a spark of unbidden awe rose within him as the boy – Uzumaki Naruto – landed perfectly ran towards him _on all fours _with a frenzied whoop of exhilaration.

9.

Sakura (and Sasuke) had never heard Naruto laugh while fighting, but as she watched him cut completely loose and weave a deadly dance with the strange ninja from Kusagakure she decided it was a sound she never wanted to hear again. It was short and breathless, filled with a euphoric mania that echoed in his facial expression and eyes that were assuredly not their usual sky blue.

And it scared her more than the previous illusion of death.

Later a clueless Naruto would notice Sakura's marked improvement in attitude towards him and her distinct lack of presence when he was fighting.

10.

Looking across at his reflection, he was a different boy. His forehead was bare of any tattoo, and his head was adorned with golden locks instead of maroon. His purple-red-blue – not green – eyes were devoid of any dark rings; instead there were three deep whisker marks on each cheek. Both boys – both human weapons, destined to spend their lives living, breathing, drinking battle – were on the edge of collapse, pushed to the limit and spent from their epic miniature war.

Sabaku no Gaara's face was carefully controlled, unwilling to show the depths of his exhaustion but barely succeeding.

Uzumaki Naruto still wore the shit-eating grin that drove his opponent to madness throughout.

Readying for one last punch, the desert boy had to ask, because he had to know – he needed to know where the source of his strength was.

"Why do you fight?"

And as they leapt towards each other, fists cocked in a final attempt to prove one superior, to claim victory over the other warrior, to grow stronger and experience and weather even greater battles, Uzumaki Naruto's existence flared far greater than anything he'd ever seen as he smiled feverishly, as if he'd finally found the place he belonged, and he socked the redhead right across the jaw while proclaiming himself to the world.

"Because it's what I live for!"


	2. Chapter 2

11.

In a way, Jaraiya was terrified of his newest disciple. It was painful enough looking at the kid, seeing how much the boy resembled his first, deceased protégé. He wasn't smarter than anyone else, he really wasn't faster or stronger, didn't know any more jutsu (except the Shadow Clone, that _was _impressive) or practice better taijutsu.

But even though Uzumaki Naruto was just an ordinary (if any Jinchuriki could be considered 'ordinary') kid who believed – who truly, honestly _believed _he could become the Hokage - there was the_ overwhelming_ _potential_: the potential to become more, more any anything or anyone that ever came before. And it terrified the Toad Sage.

Jaraiya wasn't sure if he could handle it, or if it would kill him first.

12.

"_Hey Gramps, what makes you so special, huh?"_

_The Third Hokage's gaze lingered after the Jounin he just dismissed from a status report, then refocused on the sweet, innocent four-year-old Naruto looking up at him from a plastic stool that somehow made it into his office. Taking the pipe from his mouth he tapped in against his chin in a playfully thoughtful manner. _

"_Well," he began, "It is because I am Hokage."_

_Beautiful, familiar blue eyes widened and the child's voice carried eagerly: "How do you get to be Hokage? Is there a secret?"_

_The old man laughed mirthfully and ruffled the boy's hair._

"_Why, yes. I'll even tell you," he leaned forwards and whispered conspiratorially in the young ear._

"_You have to be the strongest."_

_After a beat, Naruto smirked and turned in his seat. The Hokage could only stare at the back of the blond's head in rapt fascination as the childish voice, saturated in conviction, drawled:_

"_The strongest? I can do that."_

13.

Hoshigake Kisame's instincts, honed by many years of being one of the Seven Mist Swordsmen and an S-rank criminal, screamed at him to take out their target as he manifested a tangible, invisible aura. Without conscious thought Samehada was in his hand and rapidly consuming the air between its edge and the boy. At the last second the Jinchuriki moved a hairsbreadth away and the blue-skinned man was relieved because neither Leader nor Itachi would take the death of the boy lightly (and that unnerving feeling disappeared with the boy's chakra).

After gorging on Naruto's spirit, Samehada convulsed once before falling dormant again for the battle.

Later Kisame would unwrap his beloved 'blade' for the usual maintenance and notice a whole section of scales angry red and warped, sharply contrasting the previous healthy sapphire. In the future, he would be wary of Uzumaki Naruto and opt to fight him only as a last resort.

14.

It was only because a small, cowardly piece of Sasuke still cared for his brother and did not want to see him die (except by his own hand) that he found the breath to stop his fellow genin from avenging his wound.

So he told himself.

Heaving off the wall he shouted through the blood in his mouth. "Stop, Naruto! He's mine!"

And the image of that monstrous red maw bearing down on Itachi – full of so many teeth, row upon row upon row, and a gaping throat with no tongue threatening to devour him soul and all – slowly disappeared from the Sharingan's view.

Relief crashed through Sasuke's body as his terrified muscles (this time it had nothing to do with Itachi) slowly relaxed.

15.

The third time Naruto came to him for help regarding the rubber ball popping exercise, Jaraiya finally relented and gives him something else to work on. He held a stone in his hands and called up his chakra. Soon spiral patterns began to wind their way across the surface, wearing it down as they overlapped again and again until it was half the original size.

"All you have to do is apply the concept of pressure to the rotation. Adding power means adding pressure, and the rock will wear down faster. It'll help you with compressing your chakra too, which will make the final technique much more destructive. I'll check back with you at the end of the day when I come back from town. Until then, try this."

Thus the master chucked the stone at his apprentice and meandered into town, looking for a good bar to pick up... information.

In the evening he returned to find an exhausted Naruto unconscious on the ground. Jaraiya was disappointed when he saw no indication of his student's success – no weathered rocks proving the exercise helpful.

There was a fist-sized stone in the boy's hand, though. The white haired sage bent down and sighed when he found no mark on the surface. He reached out to remove it from the lax grasp but as soon as his fingers brushed it, it caved in and turned to dust. The next day they would run into Tsunade and all questions about the mysterious phenomenon would be forgotten.

One week later it would dawn on him that Naruto accidentally created the Rasengan within the stone, destroying it from within while maintaining the outward appearance.

16.

The last thing Naruto saw before entering a world of pain and oblivion was Senju Tsunade's finger flicking out towards his face. When it connected his nerves exploded and his senses snapped into perfect clarity. He could feel the bone shattering, various pieces of flesh being severed, and tons of blood leaving his body via his head. He couldn't scream, he could only bear it in silent agony.

When he opened his eyes, he saw himself staring back. He knew without a doubt those rich red eyes were his, even though he could also see his reflection in them. All of the sudden they blinked and the _him _they were connected to barked out laughter.

"What power! This is great!" _He _laughed and clapped _his_ hands. "But let's get fixed up first."

He never tells Jaraiya, not even when prompted, that he distinctly remembers using his fingers to dig out bone shards from his cranium and shove his eye back into place, and the feeling of his skull re-growing or re-knitting with flesh and skin growing back over it.

17.

As soon as the loudmouth brat that looked way too much like her former teammate's first apprentice shouted, "What would a hag like you know about Hokage anyway?" Tsunade is violently reminded of Nawaki and Dan. Her finger came up and smashed against his forehead and in the split second during contact Tsunade realized she didn't hold back against him.

A storm of blood erupted on the spot and Naruto's body was flung backwards nearly three hundred meters down the street, led by what used to be his head but now had most of the top missing. Through her horror she could barely hear Shizune shrieking incoherently, nor could she see Jaraiya so appalled he just gaped like a fish. All she knew was the impossible amount of blood coating the ground and her person, and the wretched conclusion that she had just murdered a child.

She sunk down to her knees, but before she could heave her first sob a blond bullet wearing orange punched her across the face, breaking her out of shock. Her hazel eyes slowly focused on a smiling Naruto, mercifully whole, yet still coated in the hated red fluid. He brought his hands up and just before he covered his eyes she saw that they were a bright vermillion, until he wiped them away to reveal steely blue and she convinced herself it was the blood that interfered with her vision.

"We've got unfinished business, granny."

And with that, when Tsunade made her bet against Naruto mastering the Rasengan in a week, she believed a little that Hokage might not be so far off.

18.

Moving quickly across the rooftops to where Tsunade was fighting the Kabuto boy while Orochimaru looked on, Shizune tried to ignore the way Naruto was acting. It was definitely strange for her, who knew exactly how the human body reacted to battle stress, to see it on such an extreme level. The boy had abandoned his orange jacket in favor of speed; his maturing fourteen-year-old muscles were writhing underneath his blue shirt and tan skin as they coiled and released during their jumping.

His pupils were dilated so much they almost consumed his irises – the little color that was left seemed to change from blue to brilliant purple (or was that a trick of the light?).

His facial markings had become more opaque, stretching across his cheeks like deep scars made by a savage animal.

He mouth was open and his teeth gleamed in the midday sun. What unnerved the young medic most was the way his longer-than-normal canines were lubricated with saliva and the way he was smiling as if in great anticipation.

Stopping her discreet observations, Shizune refocused on their destination. Reaching the edge of the last building she took a mighty leap, calculating how far away she would land from her master and how she could provide support from that distance.

She stifled a yell as Kabuto punched a petrified Tsunade across the face, but it exited in a terrified gasp as a feral snarl erupted from behind her. Suddenly Naruto was rocketing past, going further that she could have jumped on her best day. The blond landed once on all fours before tackling Kabuto to the ground.

19.

It was like being hit with a chakra-powered wrecking ball, Kabuto surmised, as he felt Naruto slam into him just as he was about to deal with the Slug Princess Tsunade once and for all. The breath exited his body so fast he felt as though he was going to cough up with lungs. Quickly the spy directed his chakra to the area, healing the damage before it truly set in. Suitably annoyed, Kabuto turned and began to condescendingly lecture Naruto before the kid went after him again, this time with a fist that seemed to blur the air before it.

'_Oh well, the time for playing around has passed,' _He thought, and tapped Naruto's forearm, severing the muscles and tendons to the bone.

When Naruto swung around and tried to plant a foot in the other boy's sternum, Kabuto dodged easily and severed the Achilles tendon.

When Naruto hopped up on his remaining good foot to deliver a spinning axe kick, Kabuto bent at an unnatural angle and punched the other boy. He frowned when he knuckled groaned in protest, as if he hit a brick wall.

It felt like being smashed by a brick wall when the genin (_'How does a genin have this much strength!'_) blasted him with the hand that should have been useless. His glasses cracked and he felt his jaw break as he skidded backwards. After a few minutes he managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"I'm finishing this!" He removed a barbed kunai from a pouch and rushed. Seeing Naruto hesitate slightly he plunged forward with all his speed and the blade entered his opponent's stomach. Naruto didn't so much as grunt, though, and Kabuto could only manage faint bemusement as the younger smiled predatorily and growled.

"Got you now."

The arm holding the blade suddenly burst open into white-hot pain and Kabuto knew no more.

20.

Still trembling, Tsunade saw Kabuto's kunai enter Naruto. Time stood still as Jaraiya and Orochimaru even slowed down to watch the ending of their respective followers' match. The brief silence deafening until they heard Kabuto's unearthly screams of pain as his arm shredded. With a grunt, Naruto dislodged himself from the other and flung him away. A cursing Orochimaru executed a seal less Body Flicker and grabbed Kabuto before performing another, vanishing from the battlefield.

Glancing around, Tsunade drew into herself and shook harder as she took in the blood everywhere. But when she finally regarded Naruto, standing bathed in the blood of his opponent, regal victorious in battle, she could help but feel like it was the most beautiful and natural thing she'd ever seen.

She didn't notice that she stopped shaking.


End file.
